[Color Computer] Fw: [Coco] Strange CoCo 2B model

[Jan Vanden Bossche]

Hallo

Neil, feel free to cross-post this back to any appropriate groups or mailing
lists.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Neil Morrison" <neilsmorr at hotpop.com>

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Frank Durda IV" <uhclem at nemesis.lonestar.org>
>
>
> > [-]> I just bought a strange CoCo 2B PAL 50Hz model on ebay (don't have
> > [-]> it yet) from France which seems to be unmodifed but doesn't have an
> > [-]> antenna connector but some kind of DIN video out which connects to
> > [-]> the European SCART. Another strange thing is a french keyboard
> > [-]> layout.

For those who want to know:
& é " ' ( p è ! c à ) -
 A Z E R T Y U I O P ^ $
  Q S D F G H J K L M ù u
 < W X C V B N , ; : =

Commonly known as the AZERTY layout. (BTW, numbers are shifted) Now, most
keyboards in the world are 'almost' identical to the US-QWERTY layout. Only
a few countries devated from that standard. France and Germany. Belgium
adapted the French layout, yielding a slightly different settings of the
keys. Actually, come to think of it, the above is a Belgian AZERTY.

Germany adopted a QWERZU layout, and some other countries in its influence
Tsjechia, (German-speaking) Switserland adapted that again. But for the rest
of the world, most had their own variation of the US-QWERTY layout, imposed
by deviating characters in their written language.

> > [-]> Has there ever been a "french keyboard" version which was e.g.
> > [-]> sold in Canada?

AFAIK, Canada also uses a variation of the QWERTY, even for French, so an
AZERTY keyboard would not be well received there. The only other market for
an AZERTY model would be Belgium or the French colonies.

> > [0]ISTR that Radio Shack made these for schools so they could use
> > [0] monitors. Am I correct?
> >
> > Sorry, but I am not well informed on the CoCo line and do not know this
> > sort of detail about that line.
> >
> > Overseas models of several Tandy/Radio Shack computers were made, and
> > for those using television receivers/monitors for display the correct
> > video output connectors and signal appropriate to that market would be
> > offered.
> > PAL was likely the format used for anything sold in Europe, as I can see
> > where Tandy would have wanted to avoid to do both PAL and SECAM
> > versions, as only France used SECAM (in markets where Tandy sold goods).

That's why, for that market, Tandy struck a deal with Matra, allowing them
to produce the french-marketed models, with AZERTY layout and for the Coco
and MC-10, SECAM output. Problem was, their AZERTY model III and 4 were also
sold in Belgium, and they used crappy keyboards.

Matra sold their own version of the MC-10, called the Alice, with a bright
red casing and ... an AZERTY layout.
www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=60

> > I know that in the R&D facility, we had this old PAL television and
> > power converter that let it be used for testing these European models.
> >
> > As to keyboards, there were several keyboards on many models.  Model Is
> > had probably the largest number of international styles.

??? I have never seen a model I with anything else than a QWERTY-keyboard.
Do you have any records, or photos ?

> > The Model 4
> > had three (US, German, French), Model III had four to six, and so on.

AFAIK, the III also had just 3. QWERTY, AZERTY and QWERZU are almost
fundamentally different, but the differences between the regional versions
are minor, so a QWERZU would be fine for all german-influenced regions, and
the Belgians got the french AZERTY. No one complaned. Touch typists are
happy when the alphabet matches.

> > Not sure what the CoCo had, but you can be certain that to sell any in
> > France, you had to have the "deadkey" and AZERTY keyboard layout.

O yes, that was one way of protecting their market. If you want to know what
a deadkey is, try this: (windows machines)change your keyboard layout to
US-international, reboot, and then type " and e. You should have ë on your
screen. That's the way to put accents on characters, because you can't have
all accented characters on your keyboard.

> > I remember when someone in the chain was demanding that an Icelandic
> > keyboard be done for the Model 4 and [..] we didn't do an Icelandic
> > keyboard.

[G]

> > Nearly every machine was eventually offered with at least QWERTY, QWERTZ
> > and AZERTY keyboard models.  When we got to just doing PC/AT clones, the
> > keyboards for other countries were just used as they came from the
> > vendors and once done didn't need revisiting for each new computer
model.

Just some games insist on scanning the keyboard themselves, bypassing the
localised driver. That is pretty upsetting for people with a different
layout: you can't find the proper keys! (e.g. DOOM)

> > MS-DOS and later Windows or whatever would have to provide drivers
> > appropriate for any significant deviation from the US-101 scan code
> > keyboard.
> >
> > Frank Durda IV - only this address works:|"The Knights who say "LETNi"

Greetings from the TyRannoSaurus
Jan-80



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